Chapter 263 Optimal Choice

Chapter 263 Optimal Choice

Xie Wanniang's first banquet, organized in her capacity as a county princess, came to a successful conclusion. From then on, she and her husband Jiang Yuan officially entered the social circles of the officials and gentry in the prefectural city.

What the two were unaware of was that, because of the obvious close relationship between the Marquis's family and their own, some bad apples who originally planned to take advantage of their unfamiliarity with the place had to regretfully back down after weighing the pros and cons and adopt a different attitude.

After Jiang Yuan finished his vacation and rushed back to Zijing Pass, Xie Wanniang immediately went to the Dingbei Marquis's residence.

Lady Hou was surprised by her politeness. Just because she had borrowed some servants from the Hou residence to help, Lady Hou first sent a generous gift to express her gratitude, and then personally visited her to express her sincere thanks.

But the fact that her good intentions were valued and appreciated so much made Lady Hou feel both surprised and delighted.

The two took their seats one after the other in the small flower hall of the main courtyard where the Marquis's wife lived in the back of the Marquis's mansion.

The lady of the house's personal maid promptly brought hot tea and two gift boxes, which were filled with all sorts of pastries, preserved fruits, candies, dried fruits, and fresh fruits, a dazzling array of varieties.

Xie Wanniang glanced at the list and saw some dried orange apricots that interested her. She wiped her hands clean with a damp cloth, took one, and put it in her mouth to chew slowly.

Lady Hou liked Xie Wan Niang's poised and confident demeanor, her unpretentious yet confident manner. After chatting for a while, Lady Hou tentatively asked if Xie Wan Niang had anything else to say to her.

Xie Wanniang did indeed have something to tell her, although it wasn't something that Lady Hou had anticipated that required Lady Hou's help.

After Lady Hou dismissed most of the servants because of Xie Wan Niang's hesitation and arranged for her most trusted nanny to guard the gate, Xie Wan Niang told Lady Hou everything about her plans to open a girls' school and to open a large bookstore in the prefectural city.

As she expected, the Lady Hou was very supportive of her establishing a girls' school, but she was worried about her attempt to lower the bar for education.

Baoding Prefecture was a special case, and the local customs and social norms imposed relatively few constraints on women. For them, going out to work was a trivial matter that would not touch any sensitive nerves for some people.

Xie Wanniang teaching them more skills will only increase their means of making a living and reduce the hardship of earning money. This may improve their status and voice within their own families, but it will not have any impact on high society.

But lowering the educational threshold for ordinary people is different; it is a monumental act that will undoubtedly shake the foundations of those who have vested interests.

If the Marquis's family and its relatives and friends hadn't all risen through the ranks based on military merit, Xie Wanniang wouldn't even openly share her thoughts with the Marquis's wife.

Although Lady Hou's actions were always motivated by the country, the people, and the army, Xie Wanniang couldn't guarantee that Lady Hou would remain reasonable and magnanimous as always when she tried to undermine her foundation.

She carefully observed the Lady Hou's facial expressions, trying not to miss any subtle changes in her demeanor.

Lady Hou noticed Xie Wan Niang's scrutiny and gave her a disapproving look. "It seems you are well aware that what you're planning to do will make countless enemies for you and Jiang Yuan?"

Xie Wanniang nodded slightly, somewhat embarrassed. "I was just thinking that with my current abilities, I can only set up a very small business."

Her actions are minor, and those powerful families with deep roots should not bother to attack her in the short term. Those who are eager to jump out will basically not be her match.

Moreover, this is Baoding Prefecture. Even if the local families with deep-rooted backgrounds have a strong sense of crisis and want to nip the threat she poses in the bud when she first shows her talent, they still have to see how the Marquis's family reacts and their attitude.

With Jiang Yuan, a border general, as her husband, and Xie Wanniang herself already being granted the title of county princess, those people would definitely not dare to harm her unless they were insane.

She had planned everything meticulously, but Lady Hou felt that not everything in this world could go according to people's wishes, and there were always some unexpected situations that no one could predict in advance.

After carefully observing Xie Wanniang's facial expression, and seeing her resolute face, showing no intention of backing down despite the potential danger, Lady Hou couldn't help but sigh, "You..."

This girl is not only capable and kind-hearted, but also worldly-wise without being cynical. Even if she knows that her actions will anger the public, she will always move forward without hesitation as long as it is a path that benefits the vast majority of people.

On this point, Lady Hou greatly admired Xie Wanniang.

She whispered a suggestion to Xie Wanniang, "Instead of handling this matter yourself, you should secretly present the plan to His Majesty."

Their emperor not only spent half his life on the battlefield and amassed great power, but he was also focused on consolidating power and improving people's livelihoods.

Lady Hou believed that he would be even more eager than Xie Wanniang to break the monopoly on knowledge, so that he would no longer be subject to those powerful families who possessed vast collections of books.

Of course, it wasn't just their emperor; many emperors of previous dynasties, and even earlier ones, actually tried to promote scholars from humble backgrounds and suppress powerful families in various regions.

However, some of them were very successful, while others lived a life of frustration.

Lady Hou believed that with their emperor's charisma, skill, and prestige, as long as he was on the throne, those aristocratic families would not dare to be too arrogant. Between them and the emperor, the emperor, like an east wind, would always suppress their west wind.

However, without the woodblock printing and movable type printing that Xie Wanniang just mentioned, as well as several methods to reduce the cost of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, and thus reduce the cost of books and stationery, the emperor would certainly not have been able to completely break the monopoly on knowledge as Xie Wanniang suggested.

She felt that instead of Xie Wanniang doing it herself and silently bearing the wrath of those powerful families, it would be better for her to present all of Xie Wanniang's skills and her grand vision of breaking the knowledge monopoly to the emperor, so that their founding emperor could forcefully implement it.

After all, compared to her, His Majesty the Emperor not only has more abundant financial and human resources, but also holds supreme power in the Great Wei, making it difficult for anyone to go against his decision to do something.

What's most remarkable is that now is the perfect time when the national strength and people's livelihood of the Great Wei have been initially restored, but the country has not yet begun to prioritize civil affairs over military affairs due to the long period of peace. At this time, the majority of the power in the court still rests with a group of military generals led by meritorious nobles.

These people will not only not help those "pedantic literati" who openly or secretly look down on them, but will also, when conditions permit, add fuel to the fire and cause more trouble for those civil officials who have been vying with them for interests and the right to speak in the court.